Most sinful cities

From H.B. London:

Forbes magazine recently offered rankings on America's most sinful cities, based on the traditional seven deadly sins, reported christianpost.com.

The staff at Forbes determined a way of tracking statistics on each of the sins. "For each sin we stretched our imagination to find a workable proxy — murder rates for wrath, per capita billionaires for avarice — then culled the available data sources to rank the cities. Some of the results were surprising: Salt Lake City as America's Vainest City. Some were not: Detroit as America's Most Murderous."

Here are the results of their rankings:

Most Lustful: Denver ranked first, joined by San Antonio, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Boise, Washington DC, Cincinnati, Columbus, Baltimore and Buffalo/Rochester. The research firm of AC Nielson used sales figures for contraceptives and sex items in ranking the list.

Most Jealous: Memphis tops the list, followed by Charlotte, San Antonio, Seattle, Providence, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Columbus, Oklahoma City and Chicago. The rankings were linked to crime rates for personal property.

Most Obese (Gluttony); Memphis, Birmingham, San Antonio, Riverside/San Bernardino, Detroit, Jacksonville, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Kansas City and San Diego. Health statistics drove this listing.

Most Avaricious (Greed): San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Boston, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington and Miami. The rankings on this sin were determined by looking at the concentration of great wealth.

Most Murderous (Wrath): The crime statistics are clear — the most murderous city is Detroit, followed by Baltimore, New Orleans, Newark, St. Louis, Oakland, Washington DC, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Buffalo.

Most Slothful (Sedentary): Memphis tops this list as well, followed by New Orleans, Las Vegas, Detroit, Birmingham, Louisville, San Antonio, Jacksonville, Nashville and Miami.

Most Vain (Pride): "Pride is supposed to be a deadly sin. When it comes to their looks, however, fewer Americans are seeing it that way," say the reporters, who used plastic surgery as the marker for this sin. Perhaps surprisingly, Salt Lake City ranked first, followed by San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, Miami, Louisville, Nashville, Virginia Beach, New York and Los Angeles.

Adult views on social issues - not exactly encouraging

In August, Harris Interactive conducted a nationwide survey to glean adults' views on eight different social issues. Note the following results:

• Almost two-thirds (64%) support the death penalty, with 19 percent opposing and 12 percent saying that they neither support nor oppose.
• Fifty-seven percent of U.S. adults support research into embryonic stem cells, with 19 percent opposing and 15 percent indicating neither support nor opposition.
• Fifty-six percent support separation of church and state. Again, one in five (19%) oppose and 17 percent are neutral.
• Just over half (52%) support abortion rights, with almost three in ten (29%) saying they oppose and 15 percent mentioning that they neither support nor oppose.
• Gay rights are supported by 40 percent, with one-third (33%) opposing and 22 percent saying neither.
• Physician-assisted suicide is supported by 39 percent and opposed by 31 percent. One in five (21%) neither supports nor opposes.
• Thirty-six percent support affirmative action, though three in ten (29%) oppose the issue. A significant quarter (24%) doesn't oppose or support.
• Same sex marriage is the only issue where the opposition is higher than support. A plurality (46%) says they oppose and 31 percent indicate support. Another one in five (19%) neither oppose nor support.

From the Pastor's Weekly Briefing.